Candles That Flicker
by Sketchcartoon
Summary: After a gas bomb is set off by the ghosts insuring sudden death to all those who are without ghost shields, 19 year old Danny Fenton feels he is the only one who can protect the remaining survivours from the onslaught of Ghosts. But has the grief and pain of his losses left Danny with sound enough mind and body for the job?
1. Chapter 1

"_Run."_

Danny sped down the abandoned street, his body convulsing slightly as it flickered between ghost and human form, his legs were getting tired, but this was no time to complain.

"_Just run." _Sam's voice whispered again from somewhere deep inside the catacombs of his mind.

Ok, Sam, let's run.

The only things he could hear were his short, sharp breaths, his rucksack clunking and the clattering of his heavy feet against the damp pavement, they echoed menacingly between the tall buildings in a way that sounded as if unseen people were applauding him. It was twilight – or at least it seemed that way, were there even days anymore? Was there even time?

Danny felt a cold chill and his wheezing breath appeared in front of his face, despite it being a warm day. They were near, unseen. Were they chasing him? Or were they waiting for him in the ever-growing darkness.

"_Keep running. You can't die"_

He wished so hard that he could fly, but his sporadic transformations made that impossible – every time he jumped into the air to fly, he would get a few meters then spasm as his body unwillingly turned human, sending him crashing to the ground. It was a good thing that puberty as a half ghost child had made his human body unnaturally stronger than most or he might have broken a few bones during these attempts. Still though, his body would be crushed like a coke can under the force of the beings chasing him now.

Where was he? Ok. Next to Amity Park, a left here and down the next str- "Arrgh" Danny yelled as something ripped though is right arm.

"Stop being cowards!" he screamed through short breaths, "Become visible and fight me like a true person!" Green and red blood oozed from is upper arm.

"We are not like people, we are not like _you," _replied a low, rasping voice from somewhere behind him – or were they in front of him? The persistent echoes off the buildings made pin-pointing the location of the voice impossible, and the ghost knew that. "Stop trying to fight us, we have already won."

"_Keep running_."

Danny dashed down the roads he knew so well – now hardly recognisable.

Just a few more streets…and then what? How was he going to get through the protective ghost shields with him becoming a ghost every few seconds? Danny couldn't think about this now.

A new voice echoed around him, one he recognised all too well – Skulker. "There is no point in running, Halfa, we've been easily keeping up with you this whole time. We have you completely surrounded. Although it has been fun to watch you squirm, it's time to end this."

They had been _playing with him._

Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, they appeared.

Well, they had always been there, but now Danny could see them. Fifty or so 20ft tall faceless ghosts appeared in an unbroken circle around him. In front of him stood Skulker himself, his usually very tall armoured suit looked small compared to Walker's guards.

Skulker laughed at the pitiful boy, standing, painting as he flicked helplessly between human and ghost form. "I see the gas bomb has affected you in a very interesting way."

Danny gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed bright green. He clenched his fist and raised it as it turned from bare skinned to a glowing white glove, a small ball of green light formed around his hand and flew pathetically to the ground in front of Skulker's feet.

This time all the ghosts joined in laughing.

"My only regret is that I haven't used this gas on you sooner, Danny Phantom. I could have killed you so long ago." Skulker sneered.

"Why kill me now anyway?" Danny snarled, "It's not like I can bring all the people you killed back to life. My parents, my classmates….Sam." His voice cracked at the end which angered him, he didn't want to give this animal the joy if knowing he was in pain.

"Don't try to fool me. I know what's in that backpack – food, which means you know where there are humans still alive. And it seems they are relying on you to stay that way."

Danny had nothing. He thought about arguing that it was all for him, but he knew that Skulker wasn't going to listen. Besides, even if it were unnecessary to kill the ghost boy, Skulker would anyway. Most ghosts would. There had been prise money for his head for the last 5 years.

"I wonder what will happen when you die, Phantom. You could just become a regular ghost – easily defeatable, or would you just disappear?" Skulker loaded his largest and most powerful gun. "I am just _dying _to find out."

He steadily raised the weapon and walked forward until the snout was hovering right in front of Danny's chest – his core.

The boy shut his eyes. This was it. After all his efforts, all his sacrifices, he was about to get blown apart by a ghost who he was once able to control with Tucker's PDA.

"_Don't let him see you cry, Danny. Don't give him the satisfaction." _Danny opened his eyes and searched for the source of the voice. Sam Manson stood just to the right of Skulker, although he knew she wasn't really there, he had come to welcome the frequent hallucinations he'd been having of her. They had been coming to him ever since she…left.

His eyes welled with tears, but he bit his lip and stood up as straight as he could, reluctantly tearing his eyes from Sam's large deep purple ones, he looked straight into Skulker's glowing green ones.

"You know what? I'm _dying _to find out too." He said with dry sarcasm.

Skulker even chuckled as he powered up the gun, Danny watched the green light of the ray grow stronger as a high-pitched sound came from the gun, and the static that emanated from it made his hair stand on end.

This is it, then.

"Goodbye, ghost child." Skulker barely whispered

And then it came, a voice that was everywhere and nowhere, it was right inside everyone's minds, as if it were a conjured up memory of a voice, but too loud and too clear. It was a voice that Danny had heard before.

It echoed through their very beings, their past, present and future – but it was the only voice that didn't echo off the buildings.

"TIME-OUT."


	2. Chapter 2

"We have to move fast!" Came the same voice, but this time it was like a normal ghost voice – almost. It still gave that same strange sense of deja-vu Danny always got when listening to Clockwork , "I don't know how long I can keep this up, come with me."

Danny opened his eyes, until now he hadn't realised he'd had them shut. Sam was gone, but he looked in sheer horror at the completely motionless Skulker, a blast of glowing green poised frozen halfway out his gun just inches from his chest.

He felt sick.

Dazed, he didn't fight it when he felt Clockwork's ghostly arms wrap around him and carry him over his shoulder. Danny watched, unblinking, as the scene of (or that should have been) his death, frozen in time, moved away from him. The 20ft tall ghosts now looked small, still stood in a tight circle around Skulker, who now looked like an ant.

"Ouch!" Clockwork exclaimed as Danny suddenly zapped into human form. "Jesus Phantom I nearly dropped you there, tell me next time you are going to change form."

"Wha- oh... yeah" Danny murmured, still feeling faint. "I've been doing that ever since the bomb. I can't control it; I can't use my powers either."

"Just like Vlad Masters, then." Replied Clockwork as he looked down at the buildings slipping past beneath them.

Danny watched them too; now a little more aware of what was happening. He saw a bird, frozen mid-flight not far below them. "Figures, Where is Vlad, Anyway?"

"Locked up back at GIW headquart – argh!" Clockwork groaned and his whole body jolted as everything around them seemed to flicker. The bird Danny had been idly watching wavered, then took one flap of its wings before grinding to a halt again. Clockwork drew air through his teeth.

"What's wrong? Are your powers messing up too?"

"Yes." Clockwork let out another small groan. "The only thing I can do now is stop time, and it's very difficult to do that."

"Thanks for, you know… saving me and all."

"You are an important part of time, Danny Fenton. You weren't meant to die back there, that wasn't your moment."

Danny didn't reply to that. The feeling of nausea was creeping over him again. Did that mean Clockwork _knew_ when he was going to die? By the sounds of it, it was going to be sooner rather than later. Danny shook his head trying to remove those thoughts. I can't die now, he thought, I have too much to do, there are too many people who need saving.

Danny noticed they were beginning to loose height and looked down. A large, fenced off white building was coming into view. He looked nervously at the undulating ghost shield that silently domed around the building. As if deliberately, his body twinged as it lurched into ghost form. How the heck were they going to get in?

Clockwork came to a halt near a small circular doorframe that stood solitary just at the brink of the ghost shield, half submerged. He placed Danny on the floor, who stumbled a little before gaining his balance. The ghost of Time looked down at him nervously; Danny glared back, hating how weak he was.

"TIME-IN."

Just then, a tall blonde-haired man in an immaculate white suit walked up to them, stopping just short of the ghost shield that separated them. He seemed to pause, looking the pair of ghosts up and down before pressing an unseen button on the side of the circular doorframe. The thin veil of ghost shield that stretched across the doorframe seemed to evaporate, and Clockwork hastily dragged Danny through it. As soon as they were through the veil zapped back into existence with a small static zap.

"Agent Baxter." Clockwork nodded at the guy in white.

"Clockwork, Fenturd." Dash replied, nodding at them both.

Despite himself, Danny smirked. Trust Dash to make a joke about his name during an apocalypse.

"Hey Dash."

Although they both knew the way, Agent Baxter politely led them passed the open gates and into the white building, inside he took an immediate right before opening a heavy steel door. Clockwork and Danny walked through it and down some stairs, Danny's boots clunked heavily on the metal stairs while the ghost behind him glided gracefully and soundlessly, for some reason this made him embarrassed.

Once arriving at the bottom they walked down the familiar route to a large white room, it was decked with comfortable white chairs, tables and in the corner, desks with computers – but the most noticeable thing in the room was the wall-high LCD TV screen that took up the entirety of the far wall.

Stood in front of it was a Red-haired woman in a white suit.

"Danny!" She exclaimed, losing her previously formal composure, racing toward Danny, "Where the hell have you been?! We thought that – I thought you were – Thank god you're alive!"

Jazz Fenton scooped her brother up into one of her tight hugs, before sincerely thanking Clockwork and pulling Danny over to one of the couches.

"What happened?" Jazz said with a strained tone to her voice.

"He was surrounded, they had been following him." Clockwork spoke up before Danny could, "I managed to stop time for long enough to get him out of there."

"My god…" Jazz whispered, clutching Danny again. "Thank goodness I put that time medallion in your backpack too!"

"That portal you have outside is something I haven't seen before." Danny said, changing the subject.

"Ahh, yes. The Fenton-Foley Door." She laughed, "Awful name, I know. Dad's names were always better."

"Fenton-Foley?"

"yeah, me and Tucker have been working on new ghost technology down in the labs – we got this one running today."

"Just in time." Danny chuckled darkly, as if on cue a small ring of blue-white light appeared around him, and he became human.

"Your problem seems to be getting worse," Jazz's brow furrowed. "It must be the residue from the gas bomb still floating around in the air. You should get a little better now that you are in here."

"Hopefully. If there ever was a time to need my ghost powers, it would be now." Danny chuckled.

"That reminds me, I need a blood sample – both human and ghost form please. I want to see if I can create some sort of vaccine to make you immune to the gases, this way you might be able to get your powers back."

"Can it wait 'till tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course, you need rest…" Jazz paused, "Are you sure you are OK?"

She looked at the tall boy who sat next to her. It worried her how sallow his cheeks were getting, and the number of bruises that kept growing. She hated it when he left this morning to get food and supplies, but she couldn't stop him no matter what she said.

Twenty-three year old Jazz Fenton had a lot on her shoulders. Since the Bomb she had been allocated Head of the GIW (Most of the higher ranks of the Guys In White had perished in the bomb while being escorted between towns). This meant that she was fundamentally responsible for all the people left alive in the area. She was the one who had to divide the rations, chose jobs for people and occasionally, give someone a therapy session. She also often joined Tucker Foley in the labs to create new technology and weaponry.

Yes, Jazz had a lot of responsibilities. But the thing she felt most responsible for was her baby brother. Nineteen years old was too young for someone to have to go through what Danny had – heck, no matter how old you are, losing your parents and the one you love in such a horrible way was bound to leave a lot of scars.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, Danny. You have hardly spoken to anyone since the bomb, that can't be healthy. You need to share your feelings – "

"I'm ok." Danny interrupted with a little more force than he intended. He got up and walked away.

Jazz didn't say anything as he left the room, but Danny could feel her concerned eyes watching him.

Danny followed the long, thin corridors of the underground building. The walls, ceiling and floor were made of sheet metal that had been painted a clean white colour, and above him hung dim silver metal lights. The décor had made Danny feel claustrophobic at first, but he had grown used to it and now welcomed the heavy steel that encased this place, keeping it safe. Of course this wouldn't stop a ghost, but just the idea of it comforted him.

Room 605, that's me, he thought as he inserted his key card into the slot and the door clicked open. Inside was a large sized white room, but this one was carpeted and there were tasteful pictures hanging on the walls. In the middle of the room was a large, black sheeted double bed, there was also a chest of drawers, a desk, and a wardrobe, all grey. The only thing of colour in the room was the red mini-fridge Danny had brought from home – it still had the trigger for the emergency OPS centre, although the ghosts had made sure to destroy it after the bomb.

Danny dragged himself through to his en-suite bathroom, kicking off his shoes and socks. He looked in the mirror and examined the gash on his arm that had been hiding beneath his clothing.

"_You look terrible, you know." _Sam said, perching herself on the edge of the bath.

"I've looked worse." Danny replied to the girl who wasn't really there. He washed the cut and dabbed anti-septic onto it before covering it with a small bandage.

"_I always like it when your hair is ruffled and messy, but this is an extreme."_

Danny looked in the mirror again and noticed for the first time actually how he looked. His usually round face was sallow and pale and there were dark circles framing his blue eyes. His hair was greasy from the heat and adrenaline of running, and the very tip of the tuft of hair that hung over his face was singed.

That ecto-ray sure got close. If Clockwork had been one millisecond late – Danny shook his head, defusing such unsettling thoughts.

"Yeah, I haven't been my usually dazzling self recently, have I?" Danny smiled turning to Sam and sitting down next to her.

Sam chuckled and put her head on Danny's shoulder (Which flashed and turned from white t-shirt to black hazmat suit), although he couldn't feel the weight of her head, it still gave him comfort. "You'll get better. I promise."

"How do you know? You don't exist." Danny said playfully, lifting his free arm to stroke her cheek. It blushed, just like it always did when he did that.

Sam smiled, "Then why am I here? Why are you speaking to me?"

"I honestly don't know, but I don't want to stop appearing like this."

"Ok, Mr Fenton." She squeezed his hand, "But for now you need to rest… and wash, pheww!" She wrinkled her nose and stood up, "Catch you later."

"See you." Danny watched as her slender body evaporated into nothingness.

He sat for another short while in the immaculate white bathroom, flickering from ghost to human, staring at the walls – alone once again.

He took off his t-shirt and jeans and dropped them into the bin by the sink. That was the third outfit this week that had got torn to shit. As he climbed in the shower his form precipitously changed to ghost. Looking down at his previously naked body – now covered in hazmat suit, he hesitated before stripping that off as well.

After his shower he got straight into bed, this is the part he always hated. Sleep. Some nights he would have awful nightmares of that fateful night, sometimes it would be of his failure to save the remaining few survivors, some nights he wouldn't sleep at all.

Luckily for Danny, the events of the day had taken all the energy out of him (not to mention the energy it takes to change form every few minutes), and he managed to coast into slumber almost straight away.

…

_Danny couldn't see. What was happening?_

_"Danny! NO!" A shriek pierced his thumping head._

_"Sam? Wh-what's going on? Where are you?"_

_"DANNY!" She screamed, unable to hear him. Why couldn't she hear him?_

_Danny frantically stumbled a few steps forward to where Sam had been standing smiling just seconds ago. His head was splitting with pain, he tried to jump into ghost form but he couldn't, as if the very air around him was constricting him._

_"Danny!"_

_And then he saw her, she was on the floor on her knees; tears ran down her pale cheeks._

_"Please..." She sobbed hysterically, "Please." She hugged herself and rocked._

_"I'm right here, Sam!" Danny shouted through the pain, he knelt in front of her._

_Sam screamed. He had never heard a scream like that before – never heard such terror coming from another human-being._

_Danny looked into her eyes as she looked back at his – no; her purple eyes stared, glassy and unseeing. She was hallucinating._

_The mist! It was the mist!_

_Danny clutched her shoulders; he didn't know what to do – what could he do?_

_He was completely powerless_

_"Don't die Danny." Sam whispered, trembling, completely unaware of the real Danny sitting in front of her. "You can't – "_

_Sam gasped and screamed again louder than before, rocking back and forth and shrieking so hard the blood vessels began to break on her cheeks and in her eyes._

_Danny watched in Horror, "SAM NO! IT'S NOT REAL!" he screeched, his voice had become supernatural – part ghostly wail. "SAM!"_

_…_

Danny shot up. His body dropped sharply back into the mattress, knocking him back to his senses. He realised he's been floating just above his bed. He coughed, his throat felt hoarse – had he been screaming?

He ran to the bathroom and splashed his sweat-soaked face with cold water. Shaking, he returned to his room and curled up cross legged at the end of his bed. These dreams were making him crazy, he could feel it – hell, he was already regularly hallucinating. Should he get help?

A little quiet voice came from the depths of this mind, _if you get fixed, you won't see her anymore. _Danny sighed, running his hand though his hair as a spark ran through it changing it from sleek, shiny black to glowing, ghostly white.


	3. Chapter 3

"One month today." Jazz Fenton announced. She was standing on a platform beneath harsh, unflattering lights, giving a speech to the survivors, "One entire month has passed since the Gas Bomb killed our friends, families, co-workers, neighbours and pets…

"We have had time to mourn the loss of our loved ones and try to get over the devastation, the hurt and agony this incident has caused – and I know that that this is not nearly enough time to fully recover, but time isn't something we have anymore. The recuperation of our community isn't something the ghosts are going to wait for – if anything, they will strike while we are weak. We cannot let this happen." She paused, leaving the room full of watching people in a too-quiet silence, letting her words settle in.

They were in the white room with the TV wall, but it was switched off and Jazz was standing in front of it, behind a small steel podium. The usual clusters of casual sofas and chairs had been pushed together in rows, and chairs of the canteen down the hall had been brought through. The people who sat in the room ranged in ages and were wearing a mixture of white formalwear, casual every day wear that must have been salvaged after the bomb, and white hazmat suits (They were in abundance at the GIW so people who hadn't managed to save their own clothes wore these). There was a smell of sweat and stuffiness in the air.

"Our scientists and indeed I have been working on new technology to give us a good fighting chance against the enemy, and we have also been trying to contact other survivors – so far to no avail."

A man, small in height, but with a broad stature put his hand up, "What are the chances of other survivors?"

Jazz paused, as if to mentally arrange her answer in the best way possible, "We can't be sure. There weren't that many ghost shields up around town due to the fact that not many people were aware of ghosts' existence." She pulled at the collar of her button-up white shirt. "So unless there were more people than I thought who were aware of ghosts, the chances are quite low." Jazz knew this wasn't what they wanted to hear, but she wasn't going to lie to the people who had already lost so much. They deserved the only thing she could give them – the truth.

"And I understand that you were in fact aware of ghosts' existence prior to The Bomb?" The man replied. He sat forward in his chair, keeping sharp eye contact with Jazz.

"Indeed I was aware, but I don't see how that could have hel-"

"Surely, Agent Fenton, if you or anyone else in the knowledge had made the town aware of ghosts, the substantial loss of lives could have been reduced, or even prevented?"

Danny, who had been sitting slouched on his chair at the back of the room not paying much attention, sat forward.

"W-well," His sister stuttered uncomfortably, her immaculate composure unravelling, "There are a lot of reasons behind why I didn't tell anyone before. I thought it would be in everyone's best interests if – "

"Best interests? Do you think that _this_ is in everyone's _best interests_?" The man stood, up. He was almost shouting. The people in the crowd began to whisper divided opinions as the whole rooms' atmosphere became unsettled.

"No! Of course not! But – I.. I." Jazz struggled to think.

Just then, a flash of green light coursed through the room, hitting the ceiling before ricocheting backwards and crashing into the reinforced steal wall next to where a tall young man in a black hazmat suit and white hair was standing. Danny Phantom unclenched his glowing green fist, slightly surprised by his own power – which still hadn't been working properly since the bomb.

The crowd (including the man), which had been shocked into silence by the sudden blast, all turned to face him. Danny's body flashed blue-white as he turned to human form (These uncontrollable changes were still a problem, but they had died down a lot since staying within the confines of the GIW headquarters).

"Before you all start accusing my sister of not being responsible enough, think about it for just one second." Danny addressed the crowd through gritted teeth. "Let's say, one day Jazz turned up at your door… Or went into the middle of Amity Park… Or Casper High," Just naming the places that were once his whole life gave him a heavy feeling in his chest, "If she stood up and preached about the existence of phantoms and ghosts – and the danger that they can possess, would you listen?"

Hundreds of unblinking eyes stared back at Danny, he didn't know whether it was because his point was getting through to them or that his frequent changes from ghost to human and vice versa were intriguing them - He still got a lot of looks and whispers from people if he transformed in public, even though this happened often (It was impossible, and indeed there was no point in hiding his identity to the people now). "I don't know about you, but before I got these powers I thought ghosts were crazy talk." He mentally apologised to mum and dad.

"And even if on the off chance you did take Jazz seriously, then what? You would all live in fear of ghosts, and it is human nature to attack the thing we are scared of. Shoot first and ask later for fear of the unknown, and ghosts like Clockwork would get caught in the firing line, ghosts like me…" Even though everyone already knew, Danny had never actually announced himself as ghost to a crowd full of humans. Just on cue his body jerked a little and the usual white-blue ring of light emerged from his middle before splitting and travelling across his body in a wave of energy. Danny could see people's eyes squinting in the light and then widening as they observed the boys human flesh retain a glowing aura, his hair going sheet-white and his eyes becoming a glowing green. Nope, people still weren't used to it.

The man, who had been previously standing up, sat down. Danny made a point to stare directly at him for several seconds before addressing Jazz, "Please, as you were, jazz," and sat back down.

Jazz stared indignantly at him from across the room for a long moment, taking in what had just happened. Her long ginger hair had fallen over her face slightly, and her collar was ruffled and loose from where she had been subconsciously tugging it. She then snapped back into composure before continuing her speech.

"_you're going to get in trouble for that later" _Sam whispered. Despite standing up on stage next to Jazz, Danny could hear her as if she were centimetres away.

Danny Smirked, I know, he thought.

Jazz continued her speech, completely unaware or the hallucinated Sam standing next to her, leaning casually against the back wall.

"Within the next couple weeks we are going to be taking action on the situation. There will be recruitments of all strong healthy individuals above the age of sixteen; they will be trained by Clockwork on ghosts' weaknesses and how to defeat one. There will also be physical training. Meanwhile me and the team will continue to pursue the best course of action, and we will not stop looking for others." She emphasised the last part of her sentence, trying to give her people a small amount of hope – they also deserved hope probably more than anything.

"First sessions will start tomorrow.

The people slowly filed out of the room one by one through the small steal door at the back of the room. Danny sat where he was, cross-armed and waiting for them to leave. Some of the people gave him looks as they went passed; others went out their way to avoid eye contact. Sam had also disappeared by now as a result of Danny's lack of concentration

"Well?" Danny snapped. All the citizens had left and the room and it had been silent for quite some time.

"Well, what?" Jazz replied, she had come over to him and pulled a chair to sit opposite him – it made Danny feel like he was in an interview or a therapy session.

Danny tried to avoid his sister's eyes, "Well aren't you going to give me some sort of speech about how rude and irresponsible that was?"

Jazz sighed, "No, Danny. I'm not because I have told you before and you haven't listened. You know fine well that these people are upset and not thinking very rationally at this moment, and they need guidance rather than dictation."

"you were fucking losing them," Danny retorted, flickering forms. "I stepped in and saved your ass."

Jazz frowned; she didn't like the language Danny had been speaking lately, he was her baby brother. "I could have handled it myself. You need to learn to be more passive – "

"You're sounding like mum more and more these days, you aren't her." Danny interrupted.

Jazz leaned forward and took Danny's now human hands, forcing him to make eye contact, their blue eyes looked at each other, "I know I'm not mum, I know. But mum isn't here and neither is dad, and you still need them, heck, we both do."

"You make it sound like they've gone on holiday; maybe it's _you _who needs to face the fact that they are dead." Danny zapped into ghost form, unintentionally giving his sister a small shock through his hands. She kept holding them and he kept eye contact – green on blue.

Jazz looked down, "Maybe not as dead as we thought…"

Jazz looked back up at her brother, who didn't reply but just stared at her quizzically, there were still hints of anger in the contours of his face. "I have a theory about the bomb, but I need to know something from you first."

Danny still didn't speak, so Jazz nervously carried on, "When the bomb went off, the only survivors were the people in ghost shields – which means they were all in pretty secluded spots. No-one actually _knows _what happened to the people in the moments of their death – no-one except you."

Danny was taken aback. He hadn't even thought about it, but it was true – how could anyone except him have been out in the open when the bomb hit, and survived? He knew what his sister was about to say, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to answer.

"You were at Sam's house when it happened, weren't you." Jazz said. She seemed to be gauging her brother's reaction with every word. "Did you see what happened?"

Danny looked at his sister for a long time. Could he tell her? Could he open up that scar in his past that only came out at night?

"_Tell her, Danny. This could be important." _Sam whispered from the nadirs of his mind.

"I – I did see what happened." Danny suddenly felt winded. "I watched her die."

Jazz squeezed Danny's hands; her face was twisted into a mixture of pity and shock, as if she had been wishing it wasn't true. "Oh, Danny…"

"We were talking in her room, when all of a sudden we heard a bang, it shook the house. This black mist appeared clouding my view. It gave me a terrible headache, worse than I have ever felt." Danny swallowed hard, "I couldn't see her at first, but I could hear her screaming."

"Oh, Danny." Jazz said quietly. There were small tears pooling in her wide blue eyes. His sister, who despite being so strong willed, was always quick to cry when it came to hearing of tragic incidents. Danny reckoned it was because Jazz was truly able to empathise with others and understand to the full extent how that person must be feeling.

"I found her on the floor… she was screeching and calling my name. She was crying. I've never seen Sam cry."

An intangible noise of horror escaped Jazz's lips.

"There was nothing I could do to save her. She died moments later."

Jazz looked down at her knees; she gripped Danny's sweaty hands. "She thought was living out her worst nightmare… As horrible as that was, it goes along with my theory."

"What theory?" Danny said; glad to move the subject away from Sam's death.

"Well, think about it. A ghost is only made when someone is under a huge amount of stress at the moment of death, or that if feel they have unfinished business. And the ghosts want to take over, creating a new world of just ghosts right…?"

Danny could see where this was heading.

"If the gas that was released by the bomb caused humans to hallucinate their worst nightmare," jazz continued, "then the poison in the bomb would kill them at a point of extreme stress… Causing a ghost."

Danny watched her, open mouthed, "That means..."

"It means that mum, dad, Sam – everyone, could be somewhere in the ghost zone… As ghosts."


	4. Chapter 4

_Test 1: vaccine at its lowest volume at 0.1 cl of medicine. Calculations show that the Vaccine should take effect in less than 5 minutes after injection and last up to an hour._

_Intensity according to The GIW Reader: 0.1_

_Reaction at 1 min: none._

_Reaction at 2 mins: none._

_Reaction at 3 mins: none._

_Reaction at 4 mins: none._

_Reaction at 5 mins: none._

_Up the volume by 0.1 cl. Repeat test._

_Intensity according to The GIW Reader: 0.2_

_Reaction at 1 min: none._

_Reaction at 2 mins: none._

_Reaction at 3 mins: none._

_Reaction at 4 mins: none._

_Reaction at 5 mins: none._

_Up the volume by 0.1 cl. Repeat test._

Tucker Foley carefully measured, then re-measured the new quantity. He placed it into the GIW reader and it confirmed the Amount: 0.3cl of the medicine he had created to stabilize Danny's condition.

He carefully took a new vial of green-red liquid, and examined it as it seemed to turn silvery white and illuminate itself, reflecting off the metallic sterile equipment that surrounded him, before becoming dark red.

He dropped the tiny amount of vaccine from a pipet into the vile and simultaneously started the timer. He watched the blood and got his notepad and pen at the ready.

_Reaction at 1 min: none._

_Reaction at 2 mins: none._

_Reaction at 3 mins: none._

_Reaction at 4 mins: none._

_Reaction at 5 mins: none._

Tucker sat back in his chair, stretching. He had been down in the GIW laboratory for coming on 7 hours straight – same as most days. He was beginning to go stir crazy.

At first, Tucker had been exited when he heard he could work in the labs. He looked around at the endless array of beakers, vials, measuring flasks and countless other high-tech equipment that he thought he'd never get to use – it was _beautiful._

But the more time he spent down here the more he got sick of it.

Tucker always loved to socialise, but the only people to come down here were the occasional lab assistant (who weren't very talkative), and Jazz Fenton. He relished the time he had with Jazz, her upbeat nature combined with her keen interest in his work made for a very good speaking partner – but even today Jazz wouldn't be enough. He had to get out.

He carefully put away the samples of Danny's blood; he would carry on where he left off tomorrow.

Despite doing tests on it he hadn't actually seen Danny since the bomb, in fact he hadn't seen him since he moved away to Yale University last year on a full scholarship. They had kept in touch at first via phone and internet for a while, but with the combination of Danny's preoccupation with Ghost Hunting, and Tucker's preoccupation with papers and finals, the friendship had been doomed to fail.

Tucker often thought back in fondness on the days of ghost hunting with Danny and Sam, Danny's awful catchphrases, the inside jokes about Skulker and Box Ghost, and most of all the cool equipment they always managed to steal from Fenton Works. He would always be grateful to Danny for that part of his life – it ultimately saved him in the end, for he had kept developing small ghost fighting gadgets in the privacy of his room while he was at college (he kept them a secret for fear of discrediting the name he was inventing for himself). When the bomb was set off, a small alarm on his phone told him there was ghost activity nearby and when he saw the mist travelling towards him, he scrambled to put on his safety breathing apparatus (originally designed for breathing in the ghost zone). Danny had inadvertently saved his life.

He swung around on his swivel chair a few times, observing his large metal prison. There was a strong knock on the air-tight steel door. Tucker didn't have time to answer before the person pushed the door open a crack and a large white-gloved hand curled around the edge of the frame. A head poked through, eyes tracing the room before settling on Tucker. Danny Fenton broke out into a smile as his eyes turned from green to blue, and his hair turned from white to black. Tucker stood up.

"Well, well, well. Fucker Toley." Danny said as he strolled up to Tucker, giving him a firm handshake.

Tucker smiled at the old joke, "Inviso-bill! How nice to see you again!" He retorted without skipping a beat, his friend chuckled that old carefree laugh.

There was quite a difference in height between the two boys now, regardless of being similar heights when they were younger. Danny was tall – about 5 ft 11, but Tucker stood taller at an impressive 6,3. Despite this, tucker was lanky and awkward looking, unlike Danny, whose years of combat against ghosts had given him a broad shouldered, athletic frame (even though his recent fatigue had made him weaker).

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Tucker continued, he sat back down on his swivel chair as Danny brought a second one over and sat back-to-font on it.

"Sure has. How's the scholarship going?" Danny said, pushing off gently with his feet and idly swinging.

"It's tiresome, I'll tell you that. But it's great. Lots of hot nerd chicks, y'know?"

Danny laughed, "Still obsessed with the ladys, I see."

Tucker chuckled and continued to pack away his lab equipment. "Always."

"You managed to pin any down?"

"No, sadly the nerdy chicks have other, more nerdy things to do." Tucker put the last vial away in a drawer and locked it.

There was a sudden silence in the room as it dawned on both of them that the girls they were talking about were probably all dead.

He turned back to his old friend, "Sorry to hear about Sam, Danny. She was a good friend to both of us."

Danny looked down, although he still continued to hold a cocky, confident exterior, Tucker could see the cracks made by his loss beginning to show, Danny signed before continuing, "Yeah. She was a good friend, and a good girlfriend. She didn't deserve what she got."

"No-one did." Tucker put his hand on his best friend's shoulder but quickly removed it when he saw the flash of blue-white travel through Danny's body – he knew all too well how it felt to be in contact with Danny as he was transforming.

Danny noticed this, "Have you found a cure for me yet?" He said, giving a little embarrassed laugh.

"Working on it." Tucker declared, standing up and walking towards the door, Danny followed. "C'mon, I need from fresh air. I think I'm going crazy down here."

Danny followed Tucker back through the steel door and up the stairs beyond, "Tell me about it." He uttered – more to himself than anyone else.

It took at least two minutes to get to the exit of the building through the series of winding identical white corridors. They must have climbed about 4 flights of stairs to get to ground level (there was an elevator, but Tucker insisted on walking, having not stretched his legs in days)

"It'll be good exercise for me, too" Danny said, following Tucker under the intermittent fluorescent lights. "I'm used to just flying and phasing through everything to get where I want, I never realised how lazy that's made me." He laughed.

Outside, the sun shone between white clouds and pierced through the thin film of ghost shield, giving everything a slight green tint. It was hard to think that the only thing keeping them from the ghosts was this paper-thin dome, but Danny still shivered at the thought of touching it. It would certainly keep him out.

"Hey look! The training has begun!" Tucker pointed towards the groups of people running though makeshift obstacles, shooting prototypes of the ectoblasters he himself had been working on in the lab.

"Oh, god. Gym class all over again." Danny snorted, "I'll be skipping that as usual."

They weren't _that_ keen to exercise.

The two of them strolled over to a grassy patch and sat down. Tucker put his face up to the sun and took in the warmth. Ah, at last.

It was a fairly peaceful day too, the only thing disrupting the silence were the occasional shots coming from the ectorays being used for training, and the insignificant static zapping sound made by Danny's intermittent transformations.

They sat in silence for a long while, enjoying the weather while idly watching the people training. Among them were a few familiar faces. A couple of kids from school, who's family's worked for the GIW, GIW workers themselves (The disposable drones almost looked human wearing sweats and t-shirts, as opposed to their usual white suits), and in the middle of the crowd was Dash Baxter. Dash had left school at 16 and went straight into the army - Danny and Tucker hadn't seen Dash since then until the Bomb, when in spite of their differences in school, Dash seemed to change his tune immediately after discovering Danny Fenton was actually Danny Phantom – the boy who had saved his life so many times.

Right now Dash was climbing a 6 meter tall wall, ahead of most of the others. The only one who was keeping up with him was Kwan (whose attendance in the army also had kept him strong and fit.)

"It's been 5 years and they are still twice the size of us." Tucker groaned.

They were too busy watching the training sessions to notice the red dot that had been soaring through the sky towards the GIW Headquarters. As it travelled it seemed to get larger and larger, speeding through the sky.

It was only when it crashed into the ghost shield that anyone noticed it. The sound ricocheted through the dome and seemed to hit the white building as if it were a physical object. The boom burst into everyone's ears, causing them to clap their hands over their heads and turn towards its origin.

At the point of collision was a colossal flash and sparks of green electricity flew from the outer side of the dome. The object turned a glowing bright green before being thrown back about ten meters, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. The ghost shield rippled slightly before returning back to normal.

"_What the hell was that?!" _Sam said, speaking Danny's thoughts.

"What the heck was that?" Tucker gasped, un-be known to him, repeating Sam's words.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Danny replied to both of them, jumping to his feet and beginning to head towards the Fenton-Foley Door.

Someone caught his arm. "Danny, you can't!" Jazz shouted. She had been not far from Tucker and Danny when the impact happened.

Danny tried to shrug her free, "Who else can? The poison is still in the air, no human can leave here."

"It could be dangerous! And besides, we have breathing apparatus now!" Jazz retorted. Strengthening her grip, "who knows what that could have been. It could be the ghosts attacking!"

Danny turned to face his sister, putting his hand on her shoulders. "The ghosts know fine well they can't get through the ghost shield. If this had been an attack, there would have been a heck of a lot more things thrown at us. I am not letting these people put themselves in danger when I am perfectly able - "

"But you're _not! _You aren't your usual self. Stop acting like you are. You can't even stay in ghost form!" Jazz raised her voice.

That was it, Danny shrugged free of his sister's grip and sprinted towards the exit from the ghost shield. Jazz called after him, but he didn't reply and was past the shield before she had time to prevent him.

"Always the hero." Tucker said, he put a hand on Jazz's shoulder as an attempt to comfort her, "He'll be fine, he is always fine."


	5. Chapter 5

The other side of the ghost shield wasn't quite so pleasant.

Danny treaded carefully through the debris that lay on the sun-baked street, watching the skies for more flying objects.

He weaved between two cars that had crashed into each other when the bomb hit – the street was full of them. He noticed some long dried blood on the windshield

Thank god the ghosts did a clean-up job of the bodies, he thought. Although he suspected they had done it so that it would be more pleasant for them once they inhabited the place.

Sam casually walked along side Danny as he creeped through the maze of cars. She was with him most of the time now. She comforted him when he had the inevitable night terrors.

"_Whatever that was, I don't think it was a ghost. Your ghost sense would have been triggered." _She said, lightly hopping over a piece of shattered glass.

"Makes sense, but what else could it be? No human would attack their own in these circumstances… Well, maybe Vlad, but he's locked up back at GIW." Danny replied, still cautiously watching the skies. He wished so hard that he could just fly up there and see what was going on.

Danny crept to the other side of the road and down a side street – the thing must have landed just past this building, he glanced back to the exit of the ghost shield. He was pleasantly surprised to find that despite being out in the open his powers weren't acting up any more than usual, maybe the toxins in the air had dispersed a little more now.

He kept to the shadows of an alley before peering down the next street.

"_Look!"_ Sam pointed to the smoking heap, but Danny was already looking.

The object was just over 10 meters away in the middle of the road. It was unmoving and slightly on fire, the green-blue flamed licked over it noiselessly as thick strands of smoke wavered off into the air.

The ghost boy looked around gingerly before slowly shifting towards the object. He hated how out in the open it was. Just as he was getting close enough to distinguish features, a nasty realisation smacked him in the face – It was a human, _it_ was a _she_!

The woman was curled in her side, facing away from him.

Forgetting all previous caution, Danny stumbled towards the body, head spinning on what to do. Why couldn't he have paid more attention in first aid class?! His hands, which had slipped into ghost form, frantically patted the flames down in an attempted to extinguish them.

"You're going to be ok." Danny said quietly to the unconscious woman. When he realised that patting the flames wasn't doing much, he thought back to fire safety training.

_"Remove the clothes that are on fire." _Sam whispered.

Danny did as told and began to rip away what he could, her jumpsuit was tough – thank god he was in ghost form and had his super strength.

As soon as the flames were out he scrambled to think what to do next – check for breathing.

He carefully but hurriedly stroked the hair from her face. Danny's features contorted in painful recognition.

"Valerie!" He exclaimed.

How could this be?! How could she have survived – something glinting caught his eye, lying next to her was her helmet, now cracked and deformed. Of course! How could a ghost hunter _not _have some sort of protective ghost shield?

Zapping into human form, Danny Fenton pulled her onto her back. He put his head close to her face and watched her chest, it rose slowly and steadily up and down and he could also feel her breath gently tickling his ear – thank god.

Now that he knew she was breathing, he had to get her out of here. Whatever did this to her was surely near-by.

He sensed it before he saw it.

One of Walker's guards was drifting through the street not far away; its 20ft tall translucent frame partially blocked the sunlight. It must have been sent to find Valerie and retrieve her… Or make sure she was dead.

Danny held his breath.

It hadn't seen him yet. He could still escape with Val, he could-

"Danny!" Jazz's angry voice echoed through the street. Danny's head snapped round and his wild eyes found Jazz stood in a thick blue hazmat suit in a hidden alley, the very one he had come from.

There was a small wail of surprise as the guard turned its empty eyeless face towards the voice. It paused for a second before gliding towards them; something that looked like arms began to form from its liquid-like body.

Danny shouted, flicking into ghost form and scooping up Valerie in much the way Clockwork had to him, and turned to sprint top speed towards Jazz. "Run, Jazz! Fucking go!"

A flash of remorse crossed Jazz's horror-struck face before she turned and fled back down the alley, Danny not far behind. Just before he turned into the alley himself, he shot a bolt of power at the ghost. He didn't have time to find out whether it hit.

As they got into the next street, Danny easily raced between the broken cars thanks to his super strength, but Jazz was having more difficulty.

"Argh!" She cried helplessly as her baggy hazmat suit snagged on a piece of debris, causing her to fall sharply onto her knees and elbows.

"Jazz!" Danny called out, once again forgetting precautions and dashing to help.

Jazz pulled the easily pulled the fabric free, but in the few seconds they had wasted, the guard had caught up.

It fazed effortlessly through the buildings, wailing more as it came close. Its form seemed to shift from translucent to almost fully opaque, virtually blocking out all sunlight. It raised its primitive arms and curled over the three of them so that its eye sockets and drooling mouth were directly above them. Its fluctuating form began to close in on them.

There was nothing Danny could do. He was once again powerless in the face of certain death. He Put Valerie down and clutched the only family he had left, his older sister – now about to perish with him. He thought about Sam and his inability to save her life and he looked at Valerie, who was still unconscious. In a few moments she would be the second to be added to the list.

Once again, he closed his eyes.

A familiar sound blasting sound broke through his panic and he saw the inside of his eyelids flash green.

His eyes snapped open – The ghost had backed up a few meters, its face even seemed to have an expression of surprise as it stared down the pocket-size object in Jazz's outreached hand. Was that _lipstick_? Danny's mind was unexpectedly brought back to 5 years ago when Tucker borrowed his mum's lipstick as defense against some a ghost who was trying to harm all their classmates.

Jazz screamed and squeezed the lipstick tightly as a huge ray of glowing green shot from it and hit the ghost dead in its core. The ghost wailed painfully and retreated more, appearing to become smaller. "Take that you piece of shit!" Jazz cried as she fired the lipstick again and again.

Walker's guard wheezed and flailed as the rays hit its body. It flew up into the air and glided away from them. Jazz still was shooting long after it had gone from sight.

"I think it's gone, Jazz." Danny said quietly, he gently pulled he arm down with his hand, still clutching her with the other.

"I-I'm so sorry, Danny." Jazz stammered, she had stopped shooting but her eyes were wide and fixed on the direction the ghost had gone, "This was my fault… I should never have tried to follow you. I shouldn't have been so stupid as to shout – "

"Jazz, it's OK." Danny hugged his sister tightly before letting go and picking up Valerie. "You saved my ass. You saved all our asses."

Jazz let out a strangled laugh and got up, still clearly shaken. She began to put the lipstick back in her pocket, but hesitated before taking it back out and keeping it firmly grasped in her hand.

"Let's get out of here before anything else comes." Danny said while adjusting Valerie on his shoulder. He had turned human again during the fight and his strength wasn't nearly as good.

They hurried back to the portal to the safe area inside the ghost zone, which was visible from where they had been standing.

To Danny's dismay they realised they had attracted a crowd. All the people who had been training were now stood facing them on the other side of the ghost portal. They almost seemed pressed up against it – even though as humans they could walk straight through it. They watched in awe as the trio stumbled towards the door, but as soon as they were through the crowd cheered.

"Good thinking Jazz!" Dash called as he clapped her on the back.

"I honestly thought you were all toast!" Another person shouted over the cheering, "You saved them, Jazz!"

Tucker poked through the crowd, a head above most others, "Thank God… I didn't know what to do – Is that Valerie?!"

A look of recognition covered most people's faces. Who _didn't _know the Amity Park's Local Ghost hunter?

"Yes, she was what was thrown into the ghost shield. She's badly hurt, but alive." Danny said as Tucker hurriedly pushed through the crowd.

They got her into the GIW's hospital wing as quickly as they could. Tucker, who had practiced medical help a lot from the years of stitching up Danny's injuries, studied the burn marks and dabbed various ointments on them before covering them over. Meanwhile, Jazz put a drip into Val's arm and tested her blood pressure. Danny Just stood there, not sure what to do.

"Maybe you should go; we'll be here for quite some time." Jazz said to her brother kindly, she knew how he was feeling.

Danny nodded and exited the room, feeling guilty because of his unhelpfulness, but also feeling relieved to not have to stand there awkwardly. He began walking down the corridors in the direction of his room.

"_There's plenty of things you're knowledgeable of. Just not doctorial stuff." _Sam said quietly from his mind.

"I know… I just – argh, I feel so pointless without my powers!" Danny replied out loud, shrugging. He realised what he'd done and looked around the corridor as he walked, the last thing he needed was someone overhearing him talking to himself.

_"Tucker and Jazz are working on it; you'll get them back soon enough. But that's beside the point. Those powers aren't what make you Danny; they are just one part of you. You also know a lot about ghosts, you have information about the ghost zone that no one else in the whole world knows. You can help in so many ways without your powers."_

Danny shrugged again, reluctant to speak back to her. Despite her being correct, he didn't want a life lesson right now.

"_I know you're not in the mood, Danny," _Sam said brusquely and although Danny couldn't currently see her, he knew she was folding her arms. _"But you need to think about how you can help the situation. These people are counting on you to work something out."_

Danny knew what she was getting at; he didn't have time to sulk. He needed to bounce ideas off someone to try to think up ways they could attack the ghosts in their weak spots, and for that he needed someone who knew the ghost zone as much as he did, possibly even better.

Clockwork? No. His powers weren't working, and he had quickly lost his knowledge of the ghost zone because of it. The only places he knew where the ones he went often and he didn't often venture outside his Lair. He wasn't going to be very helpful.

He abruptly remembered a conversation he and Clockwork had had a few weeks ago, where he was informed that Vlad Masters was locked away in GIW headquarters.

Vlad! Who better to talk to than the man who had been half-ghost for almost 20 years before Danny – Fruitloop or not.

For now, Danny knew he'd have no choice but to swallow their differences and communicate with each other.

Danny got into the elevator and pressed the level _minus thirteen _which he knew to be the level with the prison cells. The shaft carried him deep underground to the place where his arch-nemesis was waiting.


	6. Chapter 6

Danny pressed his face up against the cold bars on the small square window of the prison door.

It was a pitiful sight, to say the least.

The old man sat hunched in the corner, unaware of Danny's presence, choosing the floor rather than the bed. His grey hair was scraped back into its usual ponytail, but there were loose hairs, and it looked dull and greasy. His black suit had been replaced with grey sweats and a white T-shirt – both imprinted with the GIW logo. Danny could smell the smell of someone who was unwashed and uncared for. He wrinkled his nose in revolt, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

Although they had their differences, Vlad and Danny were much the same in that they had both fallen victim to ghost portal accidents courtesy of Jack Fenton. Vlad's accident happened many years before Danny's, so he was much more experienced than Danny with his ghost powers, but his close mindedness and feelings of irrational hate made him weaker, Sam had always said.

Danny watched as the hunched up figure flashed with blinding light, then two black rings traveled over his body, leaving Masters in his ghost form. The man ran his hand through his now black hair before resting it on his knee. Danny felt a familiar chill down his spine as his body sensed the ghost.

So he was still having ghost transformation problems too. Huh.

Danny decided to make his presence known by tapping on the heavy steel door. Vlad's head snapped round in surprise and his red pupil-less eyes focused on the face peering through the window of his cell.

His composure completely changed. He immediately sat up straight, bringing his hands from his knees and crossed them, making him look more casual than sorrowful.

"Ah, Daniel! I was wondering when you were going to show up!" He said in that cheerful-yet-sly voice Danny had heard so many times.

"Just missed my Uncle Vlad too much, you know?" Danny said snarkily, then added, "Can I come in?"

"Sure you can, Little Badger." Vlad replied sweetly.

Danny winced at the cringey nickname Vlad had taken to calling him ever since he was 14, but said nothing of it. He placed his thumb on a small sensor to the right of the door. It lit up red before making a small "beep", and flashing green (one of the perks of being the brother of the mayor meant he had access to just about everywhere). There was the sound of metal sliding and a release of air as the door unlocked itself.

Danny pushed the door open and walked in, perching awkwardly on the edge of the uncomfortable bed. Now that he was here, he didn't know what to say.

Vlad clicked his tongue, "How's things with your sister in charge?"

"Not bad, she's a good leader and she knows how to deal with people."

Vlad smiled and chuckled, "Well, she always _was _the bossy one of the family."

Danny bit his tongue to stop himself from snapping back, this was no time for fights.

"So," Masters carried on, oblivious, "What brings you down here? I'm sure it's not just the great company."

"Well actually, I need to discuss a plan of action." Danny said, happy to manoeuvre the subject away from his family.

"Oh yeah?" Vlad cocked an eyebrow, "There's plenty of people to talk strategies with, why me?"

"You know the ghost zone the best, and you know ghosts. We need to find a way to infiltrate-"

"Impossible." Vlad interrupted him.

"I – I didn't finish." Danny retorted, thrown off.

"It doesn't matter, it's impossible for us to get into the ghost zone. I've thought about it – I've had a lot of time down here to think about it – there is just no way."

Danny looked at him in bewilderment. No way at all? "There _must _be a way to get in there. There has to be a way to defeat the ghosts."

"Oh, there is." Vlad smiled, "But _we_ can't do it."

He paused to see if Danny understood, but when the boy's look of confusion didn't waver, he carried on.

"They have state of the art ghost shields – stronger than ours – so strong not even _they_ can get into them. Even in our human forms we would be frazzled as soon as we touched them because there would be _just enough _ectoplasm in our bodies for the ghost shield to work."

"It doesn't make sense. Why would they make a shield that could kill them? What purpose is it to them?"

Vlad shrugged. His body flipped back to human again which Danny was unconsciously grateful for (Vlad Plasmius had the same blue pallor and red eyes as a future Danny he once met – a version of himself he didn't like very much at all.) "I can't be sure, but my guess is that they are either protecting or imprisoning something. Something of extreme value to them."

Danny clapped his hand over his mouth, mind racing back to his and Jazz's conversation. "I know what they are keeping in those shields!"

It was Vlad's turn to look confused.

Danny ran his hand through his scruffy black hair, "Jazz has a theory that the bomb they set off made people into ghosts because of the traumatic way they died. They must have captured all the ghosts that refused to cooperate with their plans and locked them away…_That's what they need the ghost shields for!"_

Vlad Masters' jaw dropped in realisation of what Danny was saying. "So you're telling me that everyone who died is, in some way, _still alive_?"

"Yes – in some way. They exist as ghosts. I have no idea whether they are aware of what they are or what's going on." He thought about his poor parents – the people who used to hunt ghosts for a living now existed in the body of the very thing they feared and hated. "Jazz believes they are creating an army of ghosts out of all the people who will co-operate."

"And the people who won't?" Vlad asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. But the way I see it, they have two options – force them, or kill them."

The two men sat in silence for a long time, contemplating this possibility. Of course, you couldn't actually _kill _a ghost, but if you attacked and destabilized its core enough a ghost would just wither away and simply cease to exist.

Vlad was first to speak, "If they planned to kill them, why build a prison for them." He said quietly.

"Good point." Danny was selfishly relieved by this thought because it meant that his loved ones might still be alive (in a way, anyway), but he knew with what the ghosts could be doing to them, they might be better off dead.

The ghost boy was now more determined than ever to infiltrate the ghost zone and retrieve his loved ones. He thought about the people who had been taken away from him so abruptly, and how this had nearly happened once before resulting in him becoming nothing short of a monster. Looking back on that experience, he was glad his brain had come up with the coping mechanism in the form of Sam.

Believe me; I want to rescue them as much as you do, Daniel." Vlad sighed, seeming to read Danny's mind. "But the only way we even have a chance is to send in humans."

Danny shook his head violently, "We can't… I – I just can't let that happen. I won't let more people die." He looked up to meet Vlad's pitiful gaze.

"Daniel…" He sighed again more deeply this time, seeming to be thinking carefully about his wording, "The guards who come down here keep me relatively updated. Jazz has been training the humans, adapting weaponry and talking strategies. Do you think they are doing all that for nothing?"

"She's just humouring people, trying to make them feel like they are helping out." but even as Danny was saying this he knew it wasn't true. Who was he kidding? "Eurgh! Even if we save all the prisoners it's not like they are coming back to life. I have no idea how far the bomb spread but either way the people here are precious, I can't just sit there while they go to their deaths!" Danny subconsciously raised his voice, and was left a little embarrassed when the end of his sentence echoed against the steel walls of the small cell. He put his head in his hands.

"Butter biscuits, you always did have that fiery temper." Masters shook his head slowly in mock scorn. "But you have to understand this: It's out of your hands, Daniel. You talk as if this is all your fault. Listen to me; you are not responsible for this."

"Why are you even down here, Vlad?" Danny asked the old man, more to change the subject than anything. "You have made it very clear you are on our side for this. They have no reason to lock you away."

There was a silence, then a deep chuckle came from the man's chest. Vlad closed his eyes as it rose up into an almost cackle in his throat. Danny gazed at Vlad, confounded and maybe even a little scared by this odd reaction.

Then Mastered stopped, his laugh petered out into a small chuckle before he opened his eyes again and focused on the boy who – despite being his nemesis – he considered family. "You know why, Badger." He smiled, "It's because I'm _crazy._"

It was true, Danny had always known that Vlad wasn't quite right in the head – his obsession with power and especially his mother had caused Danny many problems throughout his ghost years, but he had never thought of Vlad as being mentally ill enough to be locked away!

"You've been mad ever since I met you, but never mad enough for a cell." Danny looked around at the metal walls of small room pointedly, then back to his uncle, who was still staring at him.

"Can't you see it in me? Since the bomb… when I heard Maddy was gone… my mind lost control."

And Danny did, in fact, see it. The feral look in Vlad's unblinking eyes let Danny know that the workings of the old man's mind were past functional. He was able to talk strategies, he was able to talk attacks, but he was unable to purge the sadness for the horrendous loss of the woman he had loved for so many years, the woman he never had, and the woman he never will; and that had driven him literally crazy.

Danny knew and understood this because it was happening to him, too.

"I can see it in you, too, you know. That wild look in your eyes… " Vlad said quietly, he had put his head down and made himself somewhat stable again. "You better get out of here before they lock you away, like me."

**I somehow managed to mix up my chapters! I am so sorry about this, but this is the real chapter 6, and the chapter i posted before is now chapter 7. I have no idea how I managed to mix them up but I hope you enjoy this little chapter anyway.**

**I see that a few more people have recently favourited my story, despite the mix-up. Thank you very much! I would love some reviews on my chapters telling me what you think! **

**- Sketch**


	7. Chapter 7

Danny didn't want to go back to see Vlad, he didn't want to be in that cell, too see that man… see his sadness… catch his crazy…

_No. I'm not like Vlad_, he assured himself as he pulled on a white and red T-shirt. _I'll get better, Sam is just a coping mechanism; she'll go away in time._

But even as he thought this is his chest felt constricted and his mouth became dry, he wasn't ready to let go and even thinking about it made him feel sick.

_I'm sure most people are a little crazy right now, it's a fucking apocalypse._

He quickly brushed his teeth and left room 605 without looking too hard in the mirror. He hadn't washed and his hair was a mess. The bags under his eyes were getting worse.

He was beginning to _look _crazy.

"Any news?" Danny asked casually to his older sister as he entered her usual haunt – the big white room.

"No fresh news about the ghost activity." Jazz said, she began to make cups of tea at the small kitchen area near the lounge chairs in the corner of the room. She decided politely ignored Danny's appearance.

Jazz poured the tea into two cups and handed one to Danny. He stared down at the hot liquid as its warm steam caressed his face, it felt comforting. He took a small sip and thanked her.

"There are other news though," Jazz said as she leant against the counter clutching her tea with both hands, "Good news, too. Tucker has made a bit of a breakthrough in creating a vaccine for your transformation problems, it still needs some tweaking, but it will be ready very soon!"

_What a relief. No more being useless._

"That's brilliant! All these transformations are making me tired." Danny said, making a weak excuse for his dreadful appearance (although it wasn't entirely untrue), "you said 'there _are _other news'?"

Jazz nodded while taking a sip, she quickly swallowed and said, "Yes, brilliant news. Valerie Gray is awake."

To this, Danny was taken aback. He had honestly forgotten about Valerie what with all the other things going on, but upon hearing these words something inside him suddenly felt so much lighter, like a huge pressing weight he didn't even know existed in him was suddenly lifted. She was alive, she was more than alive – she was ok.

_No thanks to me._

"Can I see her?" Danny hesitantly asked.

"Of course, she's in the hospital wing on floor -11. Room 49." Jazz had finished her tea and began to wash up the mug.

Danny had a feeling his sister had known exactly how this conversation was going to pan out. "I guess I'll have to tell her… what I am."

"Yes. There is no point in her not knowing. Do you think she will attack?"

"Let's hope not. But I'll be alright; she won't have her usual ghost hunting gear and I she'll be weak still."

"Good luck, you'll be fine"

Danny glugged down the rest of his tea and cleaned up before heading out the large white doors towards the elevator. He wondered how he was going to break the news to Val that her mortal enemy and the guy that cost her father his job was the same guy that she dated back in high school. Was there even a good way to put that?

Danny looked at himself properly in the mirror of the elevator for the first time. He combed his black hair with his fingers, trying to tame it as much as possible, and slapped his cheeks to give them a bit of colour. There wasn't much else he could do after that. Sleep was the only real cure.

He hadn't transformed all morning, so that was something.

_"So _now _you care about your appearance." _Sam tutted as she appeared behind him in the mirror, she put her hands on his shoulders and massaged them the way she always did when she could see he was stressed(although, of course, he couldn't feel her). _"Does that have anything to do with the fact that you two went out?"_

"What? No!" Danny felt ridiculous, he was arguing with his hallucinated dead girlfriend over a girl the liked when he was fourteen.

"_I don't blame you Danny." _Sam chuckled,_ "She's only gotten hotter over the years. Did you notice her body when you stripped those flaming clothes from her? Wow." _

"No, I didn't." Danny retorted. his cheeks and ears burning.

_"Well clearly you did, otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it." _

And with that, the doors opened and Sam disappeared back into the nadirs of his mind.

The plaque on the wall of the corridor he was looking into read _FLOOR -11 HOSPITAL WARD._ Other than this feature there was no real difference between this corridor and the all the other corridors in the building – white, white and more white.

Danny followed the corridor until he reached a metal door with 'Room 49' on it and paused there, gathering his thoughts.

_Hey, Valerie! You'll never guess who I am!_

_Hello Val, remember that time Danny Phantom ruined your life?_

_Remember that kids show Hannah Montanna? About a girl who was secretly a celebrity? Well, you'll never guess what celeb I secretly am!_

Eugh.

Just get in there, Fenton.

Danny pushed the door open and peeked in. The room was small, but was packed full of various machines that stood paranoid around the white-sheeted hospital bed. Sat up in the bed was Valerie Gray. Although he frequently saw her around town in her ghost hunting gear, he hadn't seen her actual face without the mask and hood in quite a while. Her hair was untied and tight, individual curls brushed her shoulders. I was about as long as he remembered it. She looked different to the future Valerie he had once met – less hardened to the world.

She glanced up and her lips broke into an easy smile, "Danny Fenton." She spoke in a slightly croaky voice. "My God, you got tall!" She patted the chair next to her bed.

"I hope you're feeling alright, Valerie." Danny said, returning the smile as he strolled to the chair and sat down.

"It would take more than crash-landing at high speed into a ghost shield to finish me off." She laughed, "Gosh, I don't think we've spoken in years! It's a shame to meet again because of these circumstances."

This wasn't strictly true for only a few weeks before The Bomb she had been chasing after Phantom, swearing to kill him while he had retorted quips back.

"True. It's a good thing you had your ghost hunting gear or you wouldn't be here!"

Val suddenly blushed, looking embarrassed, "Yeah, I guess everyone knows I was the town ghost hunter now… No point in hiding it anyway. Still, I would have preferred to actually tell them, rather than them to find me unconscious in my ghost hunting gear."

Danny was a little knocked for six by this, he had completely forgotten that most people – and as far as Valerie was concerned, no one – didn't know that she was The Ghost Hunter before now. He suddenly had flashbacks of being in the middle of class and if a ghost threat showed up, he wasn't the only one to suddenly make up a lame excuse and leave the classroom.

"I wish I could have seen your face, Danny. Where you surprised?" Valerie said, looking at him curiously. She must have already been filled in about her rescue.

"Ha, ha. Well… I kinda'… sorta' already knew actually." Danny looked down bashfully, scratching the back of his head.

When he glanced back up Val's face had turned to one of confusion. "How? I was so careful? Did everyone else know, too?"

"Just me… And Sam and Tucker… And Jazz." Danny said, laughing awkwardly. This wasn't how he had been planning to open the topic of his identity at all, "We knew because there's something you don't know about me."

Valerie didn't say anything, but just stared at him, confusion fogging her expression.

_Here goes nothing…_

"You weren't the only one with a double life… I'm surprised you haven't guessed it already because we look awful similar, and our names are practically the same, too."

Valerie still hadn't clicked, her brows furrowed in further confusion, "What are talking about?"

Danny's mind raced to find the right words, his clenched and unclenched his clammy fists. Think, Fenton.

"I'm sort of Danny Phantom." He blurted out. Wow. Really? Did he really just say it in that way?

He looked down at his sweaty hands, unable to bring himself to make eye contact with the Ghost Hunter. There was a long pause.

"Bullshit."

Danny looked up at Valerie in shock, "Pardon?"

Valerie looked light hearted again, a slight smirk on her face, "Very funny, Danny. Do you say that to everyone? You're right! You guys do look alike! That's hilarious."

Danny sat there speechless, she didn't _believe_ him? She thought he was _joking?_

"I'm serious, Valerie! Fenton… Phantom. Did you think that was just a coincidence?"

Valerie was full on laughing now, "You're forgetting one thing, Danny phantom is the ghost of some asshole who died. You're not an asshole _or_ dead."

He got up and began to pace, searching his brain for a way to explain to her the truth. "Did you ever wonder why I kept skipping school and coming in covered in bruises? I was fighting ghosts!" Now he definitely sounded crazy.

Valerie had stopped laughing now, but she was still smiling, "Now you're making it unfunny. But my god, please dress up as him for Halloween. I wonder where the Little Shit is now, anyway. Probably leading the entire ghost army."

Little Shit? Ouch. This was getting frustrating. Why couldn't she believe him?!

_"Think about it. You, a living, breathing man, is claiming to be a dead spirit who, as far as Valerie is concerned, is the cause for most of the ghost trouble in the town. Would you believe that?"_

You're right, Sam. He needed to prove it to her. He needed to go ghost.

But could he?

He tensed his muscles, concentrating like he usually did. Nothing. .

_Of all the times his sporadic changes had to decide to subside_.

He was locked in human form for now.

"If you don't believe me then I'll have to prove it to you." He said, plonking himself at the end of her bed.

"what do you mean, 'prove it to me'?" Valerie asked, looking confused again.

Danny picked up an old copy of '_The Crimson Chin' _comic book from the selection of books the nurse must have left on the bed side table and started leafing through it, "The Bomb fucked up my powers, so I can't transform into Phantom whenever I like anymore, I have to wait until my body changes its self."

"Do you even hear yourself, Danny? Isn't this going a bit far?" The ghost hunter folded her arms.

"This has to be done, you have to know the truth."

Valerie picked up a book and opened it to the page she was at, "Do what you want, _Ghost Boy._"

And with that, the two of them sat in silence for a while, both absorbed in their books. Valerie kept stealing glances at Danny every now and then, as if to say: "Are you done with your joke yet?" But he ignored her.

When Danny looked back up at the clock again it had been an hour. Why wasn't he changing?

More time passed and Danny's eyes began to droop. The lack of sleep was catching up with him and he was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his comic.

"D-Danny!" A startled voice brought him back to consciousness. Had he fallen asleep?

"Oh fucking hell!" Valerie's voice came again.

Danny opened his eyes just in time to see the ceiling fly away from him. He landed on his back on the floor near to the side of the bed. "Aurgh." He exclaimed as pain cracked through him.

Valerie screamed and began to rip the tubes connecting her to various machines off herself. She clambered to the floor next to Danny, who was still somewhat bewildered.

"Are you alright? Jesus Christ, you were floating. Fucking floating!" She cried as she hastily shoved a pillow under his head, stroking his hair out of his eyes.

Then it occurred.

Danny watched in silence as the bright light he was emitting from his stomach reflected off Valerie's face, making it look ghostly white. Her Hair began to go static as two white rings of energy travelled over his body. The ring got to his head, where Val's hand still was, she jumped back as it gave her a small electric shock.

What was left was Valerie, kneeling down holding her hands up away from the form the boy who was now, in her eyes, an utterly different person.

_Well, that could have gone better._

"What the actual fuck…" Valerie whispered, no longer trying to help Danny, but rather subconsciously moving away from him, who had propped himself up on his elbow.

Danny couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. He never imagined her to have such a guttural vocabulary!

"You look like you've seen a ghost!" He stated, smirking.

Danny got to his feet, a fall like that was nothing these days. He held out a white-gloved hand to the Ghost Hunter. She hesitated, looking his glowing body up and down, she took in his illuminated green irises and messy white hair before resting her eyes on his outstretched hand. She got up on her own without touching it.

"You… It was you all along." She stuttered.

Danny chuckled, "Yep. The child of the ghost Hunters was actually a ghost himself. The word _irony _comes to mind."

"But... But you were the ghost who ruined my life! I have been hunting you for years!" Valerie shouted, she held up a metal bedpan brought out a metal bedpan from behind her back and held it up defensively.

"That wasn't me, Val. You have to believe me! It's all a-"

"A misunderstanding?! You flew through my dad's facility with a 10ft dog and wrecked the entire building!"

"No! I was trying to catch the dog! He's not mine! He kept escaping from The Ghost Zone and I kept putting him back!" Was she _ever _going to believe him?

Val still looked scared and angry, but she had lowered the bedpan slightly, "What happened to you, Danny?" She barely whispered.

Danny began to pace again, "It happened when I was 14. My parents were trying to build a portal to the ghost zone and the machine…malfunctioned. I was with Sam and Tucker and I decided to have a look inside, that's when it happened."

"How…?"

"I flicked a switch when I got inside and I don't really understand what happened next. Tucker recons that the electric shock I received from the portal basically killed me, but the energy from the ghost portal somehow saved me, mixing my DNA with ectoplasm. It left my body in a state somewhere between alive and dead – I am usually able to summon one more than the other… sort of like a seesaw between states. But I am not fully ghost, nor fully human. Just like the inside of the portal I am something that is somewhere in between those two worlds. "

Danny had no idea whether what he was saying made any sense, but he didn't know how else to put it seeing as he didn't really understand himself.

Valerie had now put the bedpan on the table, but she still had her hand touching it. "During my time as a ghost hunter, I have heard the phrase 'Halfa' a lot… I never understood what it was before. It's you, isn't it? Half ghost half human."

Danny stopped pacing and turned to Valerie. "Yeah, I've had a lot of nicknames in my time – Halfa, Inviso-bill, Ghost Boy…" Val blushed slightly at that last name – the name she herself had chosen for him.

"Jesus Christ, Danny. You kept that one quiet." She said.

"There were a few times when everyone found out – alternate timelines… let's not get too into that – but when people found out they hunted me down and tried to experiment on me. My friends and family were mobbed and exiled. People just weren't ready for my secret."

"Oh, Danny." The ghost hunter perched herself down on her bed, now completely forgetting the bedpan, "But how come you told me? Why tell your secret to someone who hunts ghosts for a living?"

Danny came over and sat down on the bed next to her in the same sport where he had fallen asleep. "Well, as I mentioned before, since the bomb, my powers haven't worked properly. Something about my core being destabilised by the gas. I can't transform whenever I like anymore, and my ghost powers are weak at best. Tucker and Jazz have almost completed a cure for me, though. In the meantime it is impossible to hide my identity to anyone anymore because of these involuntary changes. Most importantly, though – I need someone like you on my side. That's why I came to tell you."

"Well, you've got me. I want to crush these asshole ghosts just as much as you do, and it would be helpful to have someone like you on _my _side." She managed a smile.

"Looks like we've come to a truce." Danny declared, the two smiled at each other, glad that they both finally could be honest with one another.

Valerie chimed a laugh, "The ghost hunter and the Ghost. No wonder we never worked out."

Phantom chuckled lightly, "Worst couple ever."

"You ended up with that Sam girl didn't you. Everyone saw that coming from a mile off."

Danny looked down, blushing and smiling slightly, "She was there when I was made into Danny Phantom. She accepted Phantom straight away and never once viewed me as anything less than a person. She learned to fight ghosts for me and put herself in danger just to save me so many times. She was selfless. So yeah, it was pretty inevitable. How could I not fall for someone who did all that for you?"

Valerie put her hand on his shoulder (which surprised him because he was still in phantom form), "You're speaking about her in past tense. Did something happen to her, Danny?"

He kept his head down, letting his white hair fall over his eyes, "It was the Bomb… She didn't make it. My powers… I couldn't do anything."

He felt Val's slender hand squeeze his shoulder gently, "When you are used to saving the day all the time, it is easy to blame yourself when things happen that are out of your hands. Believe me, I understand."

Danny let out a weak chuckle before saying, "Thanks."

He spent the next hour explaining and discussing the plan that he and Vlad Masters had formulated the day before. He clarified the workings of the Bomb's gas and the extra strong ghost shield, and how he nor Vlad would be able to get past it even in human form.

"So, Vlad is like you, too?!" Val questioned? She was looking a little warn out from all the surprises.

"Yes, he had an accident similar to mine back in his college days. He is more powerful than me though because he has had his powers for a lot longer than me. He used to be an enemy of mine, but in these circumstances an enemy of my enemy is a friend." He explained.

"so what powers _do _you have? Phantom?" Valerie grinned curiously.

"Once I get the cure, I'll show you." Danny gave her a crooked smile back.

"Looking forward to it, Ghost boy."

After that, the Nurse came in to check how Valerie was doing, and Danny took that as a cue to leave. His body flashed bright blue-white and turned back to human as he waved goodbye.

Once Danny got back to his own room, he realised he had spent the majority of the day with Valerie – and he was ravenous. He opened his mini-fridge and got out a plate of cold pizza. He sat down on his bed and wolfed it down.

_"You had fun today, didn't you." _Sam said, leaning casually against the wall by his bed.

"It felt good to get that out the way, I had been dreading her reaction."

_"She'll be a helpful comrade because she will be able to get past the ghost shield, and she knows what she's doing." _

"True. She's no stranger to the nature of ghosts. She's fast as well – caught me a few times." Danny finished his pizza and lay back on the bed, the cool sheets welcomed him. "You stayed pretty quiet when I was with Valerie, usually you show up a lot when I'm in sticky situations?"

Sam chuckled darkly, still leaning on the wall, "_Isn't it obvious? You weren't thinking about me."_

Danny looked at her, confused, "Yes, I was, I was talking about you and everything."

_"Yes, but I am made of your subconscious, and your subconscious was distracted." _

He didn't quite understand what she was saying, but decided not to question it. "What do you think we'll do if we manage to free all our friends? I mean, they'll still be ghosts, do you think they'll be able to carry on a somewhat normal life?

_"I honestly don't know. I hope so. But if they can't, we could always help them move on."_

"Move on?"

_"Well, ghosts are very agitated creatures – that's why they exist. They feel like they need to full fill a purpose, or get revenge. Many people believe that once a ghost has done what it feels it needs to do, its spirit can finally move on. Whether there is a sort of heaven that they go to, no one knows, but even if there isn't, finally being able to let go might be the best thing for these people."_

Danny didn't really like to hear this – the thought of having to say goodbye to all of his friends for the second time might be just too much. But He knew that, if that was what they wanted, he would do his best to help them to be happy.

For the first time in months, Danny had a full night's sleep. When he was woken up by is phone ringing the next day, he only remembered a few snippets of dream containing out-of-focus flashes of peoples' faces – Tucker, Sam, Jazz, Val, Maddie, Jack. They all had white angel wings and were hovering in front of him, smiling pleasantly. It was a welcome change to the usual dose terrifying nightmares.

"Hello?" Danny said groggily down the GIW phone.

Jazz's chirpy voice sounded in his ear, "Danny! We have a present for you down in the labs!"

Danny sat up in bed properly, heart racing "It's ready?!"

"Yes! All the tests came back with good results. The Vaccine is finally ready!"


	8. Chapter 8

Danny didn't even bother saying goodbye before ending the call and flying out of bed. He thought it would be best of he took a shower though, bearing in mind he hadn't had one last night. He pulled on fresh clothes and towel dried his hair before brushing his teeth and heading out the door.

His hair was still damp when he reached the Lab. "Morning!" He greeted Jazz and Tucker between throaty breaths; he had run all the way down here.

Tucker grinned, "More like good afternoon; it's 1pm."

_How long had he been sleeping for?_

He laughed breathily as he sat himself down on the lab chair next to his old friend.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Tucker got out the vaccine, which was a greenish blue liquid, and extracted it into a syringe. He wiped Danny's upper arm clean before inserting the needle.

Danny bit his tongue; after all the horrible injuries he'd received over the years, needles still made him cringe more than most things.

Tucker wiped the area clean again and sat back, disposing of the syringe. "It should take a few minutes to work. Hold tight!" he warned, he could see Danny was squirming excitedly in his seat.

Never had time passed so slowly, but eventually two minutes went by and Tucker agreed it was worth a shot to try using his powers.

"Here goes…" Danny said as he got up and stood back away from Jazz and Tucker. He tensed and focussed fiercely on attempting to transform. To his delight, the familiar feeling of power began to course through him and a bright light appeared over his abdomen. He concentrated harder as the rings slowly travelled over his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, _was it always this difficult to go ghost?_ The rings carried on spreading, threatening to snap back to his middle at any moment – but he had been waiting for this for too damn long to give up that easily.

The power_ finally_ spread to his face and he felt a slight but familiar tingling as his hair and eyes changed to their ethereal form. When he opened his eyes again he saw Jazz and Tucker smiling at him.

Jazz jumped and clapped her hands, "It worked!" She reached behind her and grabbed a hand mirror that had been sitting on the desk and promptly held it up to her brother's face.

Obviously, Danny had seen himself in ghost form many a time since The Bomb, but somehow his reflection was now completely different. He studied his blazing green eyes and the bags beneath them, his messy white hair, his slight aura that illuminated his skin and contoured around his jutting cheek-bones. No, he didn't look any less exhausted than usual, but somehow, for a ghost, he'd never looked so alive.

He was reminded of the face he saw all those years back when he had felt his whole body tingle in that curious way for the very first time.

He had been lying on the bed with his laptop, resting after the accident with the Ghost Portal, relieved to have been released from hospital so quickly. He was an hour deep into the Wikipedia pages about Astronauts when he felt it. The sensation travelled up his body like severe goose-bumps. He saw nothing but blinding blue-white light for a second, and then it was gone. Danny thought it was strange, but considered nothing more of it.

He went to use the mouse pad on his laptop, but nothing happened when he touched it. Was his laptop broken… _again? _Then he caught sight of his hand.

Danny sat up straight. "Wha..?" He whispered desperately as his eyes traced his white gloved hand that appeared to be… glowing?! He followed his arm up to his elbow where the white material met an end and the black material began.

_"Wha..?" _

He ran to the bathroom across the hall (to this day he was ridiculously relieved that no one had been out in the corridor at the time) and gawked into the mirror, putting his hands on the cold glass as if it would assure him that this was reality.

The face that looked back then was very different to the one Danny Fenton was seeing now, the horror in the little boy's eyes when he had looked in that mirror – the bewilderment and anxiety. These were now swapped with jubilation at finding himself back in his old familiar skin – it was like seeing your best friend after a very long time.

What these two moments in time, Danny felt, had in common was that fact that he knew without doubt that from this point onward everything was going to change.

Tucker laughed cheerfully, "Can you use any of your ghost powers yet?"

"I'll try!" Phantom said, looking at his hands – now considerably larger than the first time he saw them in ghostly form, but still encased in a well-fitting glowing white glove. He balled his fists and let the flow of energy become concentrated in his palm. He then held out his arm as the ball of green light sparked to life in his hand. He directed it to one of the many beakers on the tables around the labs and let go.

The shot of green energy exploded through the air and directly into the beaker – hitting it dead, causing it to shatter into miniscule shards, but the ecto-blast wasn't done there – It carried on soaring through the many instruments behind it and straight through the wall on the other side.

"…I guess I need to learn to control my powers a bit, eh?" Danny said, scratching his head with his now smoking hand.

Jazz and Tucker just laughed, they too were too relieved about having the old Danny back to care about the damage.

Jazz picked up a clipboard, "I have a list of your powers here, we need to go through them and check if they are working properly. Also I think we should move into the ghost chamber before proceeding for the labs sake."

"Always with the clipboards." Danny sniggered.

Just down the corridor were two doors right next to each other. One read _"Ghost chamber" _and the other, "_Viewing platform". _Danny went into the ghost chamber, descending down the stairs that lead him into the room, he couldn't help but shudder a little at the thought of what this space was most likely meant to be used for. Jazz and Tucker proceeded into the other room, which had nothing but a desk, a few chairs and a large window looking out over the room Danny was in, Danny's room was well lit, plain and grey, had a much lower floor and was completely void of any furniture.

Jazz turned checked the ghost shields were disabled before looking down at her list.

"Flight?" She said through a microphone.

Danny jumped up into the air and stayed there, hovering easily above the ground, "Check."

"intangibility?"

He flew up to the ceiling before hesitantly pressing his hand to the painted metal. He felt the cold surface give way and swim around his hand like liquid or a heavy gas. His hand disappeared into the ceiling, followed by his arm, then head. He beamed to himself and dropped down to hover just above the floor again, "Check."

"Invisibility?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated. When he opened them again he looked down at his hands, or where he thought his hands should have been. He then looked at Jazz and Tucker, who were still looking at where he was, but their eyes weren't quite focussed.

Jazz put and tick on her sheet, "Check! Ice powers?"

Danny let himself become visible and raised his hand again. He summoned the coolness that slept in his core and let it manifest until it shot down his arm. A large bolt of ice sprung out his hand and encased it.

"Sort of check." Danny stated, observing the curious iceberg imprisoning his hand before using his ecto-power to melt it.

"Energy shield?"

With a swipe of Danny's hand, an air born shield appeared in front of him. It's usually perfect square form was a little off, but it was good enough to do its job.

"Aural projection?"

Danny focussed himself. His aura suddenly got a lot brighter – a similar brightness to the light projected when he transformed. He let the energy build up until he appeared nothing more than a sphere of light, then when he abruptly released the pressure. The energy exploded out with a sonic boom, hitting all the walls, the floor and the ceiling. When the smoke cleared all the metal walls had ever so slightly melted. Danny, who was out of breath from the effort, gave his friend and sister a determined smile, "Check."

Jazz closed her mouth, which previously had been hanging open. She quickly looked down at her notes and put a tick next to '_Aural Projection'. _Although she knew that this was one of Danny's powers, she had never actually seen it herself before now.

"Spectral body-split and duplication."

Danny had to admit, he was having fun. He hadn't used his powers in so long; he had forgotten how fun they could be! Phantom lifted his hands to his head, keeping eye contact with both of them. With a sharp 'pop' he removed his head from his shoulders and tucked it under his arm like a basketball.

"Good gosh!" Jazz retorted while Tucker burst into fits of laughter at her reaction.

Danny had a sly smile on his lips as he then manifested a mirror of himself standing next him, the duplicate was also holding his own head.

Jazz watched in horror as the two Dannys turned to eachother.

"Swap?" One Danny said to the other.

"Sure." The other Danny replied.

"Oh God, Danny!" Jazz squealed as the two ghosts swapped and placed either one's heads upon their own shoulders.

"I don't like this head. Mind if we swap back?"

"No problem. I think my own head was a better fit, anyway."

The two Dannys once again exchanged heads and with that, the second Danny disappeared and the original Danny placed his own head securely back on his shoulders.

"Goodness Gracious!" Jazz exclaimed, having watched the transaction through her fingers.

Tucker, meanwhile, was doubled over in laughter. He clapped Jazz on the back, "I don't know what's funnier, Danny's weirdness or your reaction!"

Jazz let out a nervous laugh, still a little flustered, "Trust you to find that funny rather than disturbing!"

"Will you two love birds concentrate on the list, please?" Danny called playfully.

Jazz and Tucker, both blushing and laughing, straightened themselves up and observed the list together.

"Teleportation?" Tucker asked

"Well, I couldn't really do that before hand, but I'll give it a go."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated hard. He had done this a few times in his life, and it was always at a point when he was pure adrenaline – a life or death situation. _Think about the observation room. Think about the space just behind Tucker and Jazz._

No dice.

"Eurgh. I'll have to work on that one." Danny exclaimed, opening his eyes and feeling a little dizzy from concentration.

Jazz obediently wrote a cross into her paper and continued to the next bullet point."Ghostly wail?"

Now that, he could do.

"Hold on," Jazz said as she and Tucker put in earplugs. "This won't stop all the sound but it will prevent us from getting ear damage. Go for it."

Danny sucked in as much air as he could manage, puffing his chest up. Then he opened his mouth wide and yelled "JAZZ STILL SLEEPS WITH HER TEDDY BEAR!"

The high pitched reverberation from the final word sent sound waves bouncing around the confined space like hundreds of trapped birds. Dust began to fall down from the ceiling. The lights that had managed to survive the Aural Projection all burst with fits of electricity and the glass screen separating the Observation Room from the Ghost chamber splintered into tiny shards and rained down onto the floor below. Despite the earplugs, Jazz and Tucker both has their hands over their ears.

Danny closed his mouth and it was like someone had just switched off a hurricane. The room was all too silent again but the destruction left behind by the ghostly wail was immediately obvious.

Tucker burst out into more fits of laughter, removing his earplugs.

"Not funny, Danny!" Jazz barked angrily, also taking out her earplugs. She had a hint of a smile on her lips.

"How is Bearbert Einstein doing these days?" Danny beamed at his sister. Upon hearing the name of the bear, Tucker let out another round of hysterics.

"Shut up, you." She muttered in mock annoyance.

"We still have one last thing to test, and since you're finding everything so funny today, Tucker, _You _can be the guineapig."

"Oh shit. Why am I always the gineapig for this power!" Tucker retorted, still sniggering about Bearbert a little.

Jazz smirked and looked to her brother "Danny: Let's see some overshadowing."

Danny gave a little salute to Jazz before soaring up towards Tuckers protesting outstretched hands. He let his body flow into something that looked and felt a lot like a thick gas as it slipped into Tucker's Body.

There was a flash of green in Tucker's eyes and suddenly stopped protesting and got up, his movements were a little robotic, but he was balancing easily on his feet as he walked out the door. Jazz followed curiously as Tucker silently got into the lift and pressed the floor for Danny's room. Once out the lift, he walked calmly up to room 605 and opened the unlocked door.

"Danny, what is your plan here?" jazz asked apprehensively as Tucker crouched down to reach for something under the bed. He returned holding a large bottle of clear liquid. _"Vodka?"_

Tucker looked at Jazz and gave her a cheeky smile that could only have been Danny's. He raised the bottle slightly, and said "To Danny!" before popping the bottle open and taking one… two… three shots.

As soon as this was done fluorescent green gas appeared out of Tuckers mouth and nose and fabricated into Danny again.

Tucker coughed and gagged, sticking out his tongue. "If you want me to get drunk with you, just ask next time!"

Danny and Jazz both burst into hysterics as Tucker shrugged his shoulders and took another shot. He handed to bottle to jazz who wrinkled her nose and took a cautious glug before passing it to Danny.

The night seemed to fly by after that, the trio ate cold pizza and joked about old times. Jazz told gossip about goings on in she had seen through CCTV cameras. Tucker told everyone about the time he had had a minor accident at his university labs, resulting in him being completely covered in white powder. Without thinking he has shouted "Going ghost!" to his fellow classmates, and was met by a room full of blank stares.

It was the best night the three of them had had since the bomb without doubt. They all forgot – just for one evening – that there had been an apocalypse. Just for one night, their biggest worries were silly embarrassing stories and whether they were going to run out of pizza. For one night they all acted like the children they were.

**A happy chapter, About time! I would love to know how you guys are finding my story so far, reviews would be much appreciated!**


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